5 Morning Rituals That Help Me Win The Day (#105)

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“If you see distraction externally, you end up creating an internally distracted state.” – Tim Ferriss

This episode of The Tim Ferriss Show is a bit of an experiment. Most the time, I interview world-class people, and I ask them many, many questions to try and figure out what makes them good at what they do.

Many of you have wondered what would happen if I flipped the script and had to answer my own questions. In this episode, I decided to do just that and answer one of your most common questions: what does your morning routine look like?

What you’ll find here are the five things I’d like to accomplish within the first 60 to 90 minutes of an “ideal day.” If I can hit at least three of these items, then I’ve won the morning. And, as the saying goes, “If you win the morning, you win the day.”

Let me know if you like this type of episode by responding to me on Twitter (@tferriss) or Facebook. Please let me know if you want more, never want to hear this type of podcast again, or suggest another question you’d like me to answer.

Want to learn more about morning routines from a world-class entrepreneur? Listen to my two-part conversation with Tony Robbins. In the episodes below, we discuss Tony’s use of cryotherapy, his daily priming ritual, and how to get out of a slump. (Stream the episodes below or right-click here for part 1 and here for part 2 to download.)

This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last 2 years and now has more than $2.5B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams.

Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you—for free–exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim.

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Please check out Tribe of Mentors, my newest book, which shares short, tactical life advice from 100+ world-class performers. Many of the world's most famous entrepreneurs, athletes, investors, poker players, and artists are part of the book. The tips and strategies in Tribe of Mentors have already changed my life, and I hope the same for you. Click here for a sample chapterand full details. Roughly 90% of the guests have never appeared on my podcast.

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I’ve used the Wim Hof breathing method for my last couple of training runs, getting ready for the Chicago Marathon. Call it Placebo, or call it real, it was the best 20 mile run I’ve had in a long time!

Tim, very much looking forward to listening in about 5pm to this. This is “exactly” the kind of topic I’ve been looking forward to hearing. Per your advice, I’ve been on a “mini retirement” for the last few months battling panic attacks and working very hard to overcome this challenge. And needless to say, my mornings haven’t been as fruitful as I would like them to be and they are in stark contrast to how productive my mornings were earlier this year. Thank you so much for “caring” about all of us out here in this world trying to be a better person and a more successful person in life. Blessings… Rikk

I worked with a client who had panic attacks and was prescribed to eat medicine to it. Now she’s enjoying her life without overwhelm, anxiety or panic attacks. She got permanently rid of her panic attacks and no longer has to eat any medicine to it.

Here are few advices for you but without knowing much about you I have to be pretty general here. The process below is completely customizable when you attend a 1-on-1 session.

There can be multitude of different “causes” for a panic attack and to my experience they often derive from over work and not giving your mind a break and a chance to relax.

Build Yourself Strong:
-A custom morning routine to fit your needs can be part of the solution
-Doing things that fulfil you physically(stretch/exercise), mentally (reading about a topic you are interested in), spiritually(listen to music, paint/draw, dance) and emotionally (meditation & breathing)
-Garbage out session where you get all the ideas and thoughts bubbling in your head and filling the space out on to paper

Breaks:
-50 focused work followed by 10 minute break and do this in 2 hour batches, after each batch eat something nutritious
-When your 10min break do something that’s completely different than what you were doing for your focus session
-End work early and have something fulfilling to do like drumming, surfing, mountain biking, socialising

MVTODO
-Minimum viable To Do list
-What 3 things can you guarantee to get done today?
-Give yourself only 3 that you know you can easily get done and give yourself a permission to not do anything for the rest of the day
-Once you get the three done you can decide if you want to do more
-It’s important to get back to winning and not be disappointed at the end of the day for all the things you didn’t get done which kills morale, productivity and energy

Cutting off the panic attack triggers:
-Something triggers your panic attacks. There can be a visual, auditory or kinesthetic trigger but it’s more likely an unconscious trigger that you aren’t aware of
-This trigger starts a process where you notice the symptoms of a panic attack and they start to increase
-We need to cut off the trigger so it doesn’t start this process and instead starts a different process like how good you feel when you get something done for example.
-NLP & unconscious recalibration are the most effective tools I use to get results for this part

Identity Recalibration:
-The biggest stopper in creating a new habit is that it’s not supportive of your old identity and if you don’t change the unconscious beliefs you have about yourself to support your new life, there’s a big chance the routines fall of
-Start noticing (write down on paper when you do the new habit) and rewarding yourself when ever you successfully do the new routine/habit

There’s a lot above and just one thing will already make a big difference. I recommend you get someone to take you through the process so you don’t try to do it all at once but slowly build up and insure that it sticks and becomes part of who you are.

Hope this helps Rikk. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer 🙂

Oh and p.s. I LOVED your show on drumming! I used to be a professional drummer in the late 80s and I can say you did such a fabulous job in figuring everything out enough to do the gig with Foreigner live. Huge guts to do that Tim. I used to hang out with Kelly back in the day as he and I were on the same record label… You rocked it man!

Tim, have you ever considered evening rituals or even mid-day rituals? I think it might be really interesting if you asked this question too in your interviews. I read the book “The Way of the Seal” and it describes both morning and evening rituals and the evening rituals seem like they can be pretty powerful too.

Thanks to you Tim
– I have started making my bed (consistently)
– meditating more (than I used to)
– journaling

Love hanging – one tip for grip strength add these http://www.fatgripz.ca/ to your rig (Poliquin approved – http://on.fb.me/1OkuSpE). Towel also works and is good for gi grab training. (feel I may be telling you what you already know).

Tim, I’d like to see if , in one of your upcoming podcasts, you or a guest can answer a question that has puzzled and perplexed me for many years. That is:

How does one balance Ambition with Contentment?

At one extreme you have pure Ambition. To have the best, do the best, own the most, to achieve, to conquer, ect ect …and at the other extreme you have pure Contentment. To be at peace with what ever you have, whatever comes your way, to “want what you have”..

This is a philosophical question , yes. One maybe for your priest, Rabbi, guru, or shrink, but as an entrepreneur it is a vital question. When is enough, enough? When am I just being lazy in the name of being ” content” or “fulfilled”?

I’ve posed this question to freinds and therapists along the way but most are puzzedl by the question, don’t really understand, or give a Hallmark Card answer.

They talked briefly about this in the Brene Brown podcast with Tim. I also remember in the book: Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion (the book format is set as a conversation between the highly accomplished psychologist/researcher Paul Ekman and the Dalai Lamal) it is a good read. Slow at some parts, but I remember Paul talking about how he held so much anger for his father that he believes it was that anger that pushed him to be so successful and to author and pioneer so much valuable research.

That drive to be better than his dad and show his dad up is what motivated him to have more success than he believe he would have without that anger. However he also said it bleed into his personal relationships with his wife and daughters and he never realized it until he finally put that anger down.

I always believed you surround yourself with both people at a higher level then you and a lower level. That way you keep that fire and urge to grow but when you mentor and look back and see others who are where you were it help give some contentment and sanctification for where you have been. You balance your life with both a gratitude for where you were and how you have changed and keep a vision for where you want to be. Just my two cents. Good luck finding your answer.

There is a Universal truth found in Taoist philosophy, which states that Yin and Yang are the two primary forces found in all forms of nature, and everything visible and invisible contain these two primary forms of energy.

Yin is potential energy, or the seed of creation, which must be developed internally by waiting and resting and focusing on the root chakras or lower Dan tian umbilical nerve roots through deep breathing exercises and mindful meditation practices which deepen your mind body soul connection.

Yang is the complete opposite as it is “Active energy” which externalizes one’s own energy into creative projects and work related endeavors. Yin is the mother of Yang, so if you want to wake up in the morning, you have to fall asleep at night.

This is the very basic understanding of everlasting energy and Taoist fulfillment. When you seek to embody the complete integration of your Yin and Yang energies, you become a whole being, attuned to balance and knowing how to respond appropriately in each and every moment, with either a Yin breath or a Yang action, the right way will come naturally to you as you develop your inner sense and trust in your own unique combination of Yin and Yang energy.

Thankyou Tim. This is great. I had a cringe reaction to the use of the word ‘win’ though. ‘Win the morning’. ‘Win the day’. I’m not doing meditation to ‘win’ anything. Who wants to win a day? Its just a bizarre notion to me. Maybe it’s just a culture thing, I guess a lot of people go for the whole masculine dominate seize conquer destroy approach to living

I think that people have to define what “win” means to them. Some people feel that it’s dominating an inferior person or creature. There are people that believe it’s completing a challenge. Others feel that it’s dominating their weaker side. For me, it’s hard to find a word that describes this feeling. “Win” is close but the Japanese have coined a word that breaks down into essentially meaning “achieving a task without waste, only incredible strength and precision.” In English, it translates closer to “god-like.” This word is Kamiwaza. I meditate to reach towards Kamiwaza.

Enjoyed this, but thinking about it further I’m lacking a framework for ‘build your own’. What principles determines what things are ‘good’ to do in the morning?

I mean: given your list you could make your bed (10secs), drink a cup of tea (10mins?) while journaling (zero minutes extra), but forget to eat, shower and shave, leaving your house with your shirt on backwards and forgetting to wake up your kids?

Another thing I’ve wondered with these morning routines is how to work them when you are more than just one person (relationship, a family etc.) Thoughts here?

Here’s my 5 cents for a framework you can use for building your very own morning routine.

Most of the things during our day consume energy from us, right?
-Work
-Driving around
-Running errands like shopping
-Taking kids to school in a hurry
-Responding emails
-Checking social media
-Answering the phone
-Cleaning the house

So we consume a ton of energy, yet most of us forget to replenish that energy. Sleep is only a part of re-energizing yourself.

This is the framework I use with my clients to get them from being overwhelmed and stressed out to having more time, energy or focus to be present with their family, friends and personal projects to enjoying a better work-life balance.

List the thing that you get done on a successful morning and do those after you do your morning ritual or make them part of it. You can also team up with your family and do these with your partner and or kids.

4. What fulfils you intellectually?
-Learning something new that will give you hope for a better future (motivation) and help you achieve your goals such as reading a marketing book for example or listening to a podcast, audio book or online course.

You can leave some of these things for your night routine as well.

NIGHT ROUTINE
Here’s also a frame work how to build a night routine that supports your well being.

1. Play
-What do you consider to be fun? Do that. You don’t have to do it every night but make sure you get couple times a week in.
-This is probably the most effective thing you can do for keeping up your balance in life and energy levels up.

2. End Time
-Have a set time that you give for your mind to calm down before you go to bed
-If you’re like most people you’ve revved up your mind all day and it needs time to slow down the RPM. Most people make the mistake of going to bed with their mind running 100mph and then either won’t fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall back to sleep

3. Journal

Winlog
-Write down 3 things that were a success that day
-Get the garbage out that’s filled up during the day by writing out the ideas that have been circulating in your head

Different
-Answer this question: What can I do differently tomorrow that will make my day more enjoyable/successful?
-This will help you recognize HOW you can improve day
-This isn’t something you necessarily answer every day

START SMALL
It’s not about a 3 hour routine. 20 minutes is plenty. You can squeeze it to 10 if you’re really crunched on time. Start with one and build from there.

LEVERAGE
-You can combine these.
-Listen to music while exercising or listen to your favorite podcasts that teaches you things that will get you to the next level in your ambitions.
-Do the journaling verbally with your partner and or kids
-Figure out if you can exercise with your partner for example

Hope this helps. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to help out 🙂

Hola Tim, thanks for this post. As I’m also a first thing in the morning meditator I found that is important to stick to this even if you do it for one minute. I learned from my karate teacher (Tsutomu Oshima) that if you have a planned time to do anything (for him was to make at least 20 katas daily) that if for any reason you can not do 20, do 10, or too busy that day, ok do one kata. So the same with meditation in order to have it as a routine, and always there are excuses, its too late, I’ll do it after my coffee bla bla bla, so in those days that your mind is fighting back do the minimum even a symbolic one minute meditation (which is good too) but never give up your ritual. Also about meditation and mantra I really suggest to beginners in this practice to start focusing in your breath, just use that as “your mantra”. Meditation is really easy, “just sit” and when the mind takes you other places come back to feel your breath again, as you said, this training of coming back is what will give results in focusing and knowing yourself.

Question in regard to this podcast: When do you start to have protein.
Questions for further podcasts:
If happiness derived from income stagnates at 6000 $ per month, what are your reasons to make more?
How is investing in companies making you happy enough to worth the reduction of personal freedom?
Where does your believe, that you should live in a monogamous relationship, to have kids, stem from?
All the best
Peter
P.S. Happy to hear, that it will be possible to watch the TFE in Europe
P.P.S 4 Hour Chef rocks – just re-read it

Also intrigued by Wealthfront; I like the concept but don’t like the overly-simplistic portfolio risk questions. It would be awesome if they offered something like Meb Faber’s “Ivy Portfolio” type of mix, with long-short, etc. Cool idea tho.

I have fallen in love with my icy cold shower Tim, per Tony’s cryotherapy routine. I’ve taken a 2 minute cold shower on waking for about 3 months. Fab energy booster. I also engage in deep stretching and meditation in the morning. My morning ritual sets the tone for my day. Being a blogger and author I need that boost to create daily.

I also toss in an hour of cardio to raise my vibe later in the day. Life is rituals, when you think about it. Successes seem to follow high energy and other folks seem to skip out. I recall when I started the day watching the news and scarffing down breakfast. Now I take an icy shower, meditate, stretch, and I wait until 11 AM because I have a 16 hour fasting period between meals. Yep, intermittent fasting. My mental clarity, my drive and my focus have improved dramatically while I have stuck to this ritual daily.

Thanks Tim. A game changer for me was switching from being the “rush-rush to work” guy, to giving myself approximately 2.5 hours from waking to being at my desk.

It’s the most valuable part of my day: pure self-indulgence, starting between 5-5.30am and – by influence (yours, journalling) and coincidence (hanging). I get to work content, and utterly in charge.

Have recently incorporated Wim Hof’s 3 rounds of power breathing, soon after waking, since I’m battling with always waking grumpy and confused. Some days, I’ll immediately walk outside for 5 minutes or so doing 5 minutes of power breathing. Both immediately kick the mind into a great place. And help with focus, and cravings tend to be weaker on those days.

In fact, sleep – the waking grumpy and confused aspect despite being a healthy positive person – would be a topic it would be great to have you dive into on the podcast.

I’d love to hear more about the softer side of your life hacking, world conquering, learning mastering. How has your girlfriend and your new dog changed you (if at all) and what have you learned? I think that the soft side and the raw emotions from romantic relationships or caring for something that is fully dependant on you (baby, pets) is often understated in the mainstream and I would be fascinated by your response.

I’d have to agree. Not talking down any other discipline, but for pure practicality and ease of learning, Krav Maga is the way to go in my opinion. Emphasis on avoiding a confrontation, defending and striking at the same time, with the goal of defend/strike/disengage/retreat. I don’t think my wife is too interested (that’s not her cup of tea in general) but I’m getting my kids instruction and they catch on to it quickly because it’s designed to take advantage of your normal reactions to physical attacks, so it’s not like your learning something that requires you to overcome your normal reactions to be effective.

please its very dificult to contact you , i understeand that you are a very busy person . but if would be a way to contact you personaly , with small email or any other way , i need help urgently ,really , i know this could seems extrange , but im in a very destructive familiar relation and dependance , and i got very much anxiety , depresion , and is dificult to me to get focus on anything , couse the destructive reñation from my childhood . even get sleep and get a work has been dificult in the lastest months . i pray for any help consueling in spain or a half journy job here in spain or in UU.EE amd a room by rent or any family who need help for ropm or any exit. i want to rescue my life and be a musician , is my dream , i play piano and guitar by hearing on a amateur lebel . please any advise . thanks
Marino polo from Madrid , Spain

Tim, this was yet another awesome podcast from you loaded with great bits of advice. Thank you for doing it and bring us more please. My question is “What about breakfast?” Does it happen after these 5 things are accomplished?

I love this podcast! Tim, please keep sharing your insights and routines…what you eat daily, what you do for relaxation, etc. It’s interesting and insightful to know what you do daily (even your screw-ups!)
Thanks for all your podcasts! I’m loving them!!!!
Elaina

Could you summarize your podcast in a few paragraphs. So we could get the essence of what you are sharing without having to listen to the whole podcast. Brendon Burchard does it beautifully with his videos on his blog.

Alberto, I was wondering the same thing in regards to yoga poses, although I was wondering about child’s pose, or “back flat on floor with knees elevated/legs resting on a couch”. Might not straighten things out like hanging , but it might give the discs a rest from the one-two punch of gravity and poor posture if that’s what was meant by “spinal compression”?

Hey Tim,
My question for you is how has having a girlfriend and a dog changed you and your life (if at all)? I think so often the ‘soft’ side of things, the raw emotions of care and love from a romantic relationship or from having a something completely dependent on you (babies, pets) gets overlooked in terms of the positive impact they can potentially have on productivity and living a meaningful life. Any thoughts on that?

Hey Tim,
My question for you is how has having a girlfriend and a dog changed you and your life (if at all)? I think so often the ‘soft’ side of things, the raw emotions of care and love from a romantic relationship or from having a something completely dependent on you (babies, pets) gets overlooked in terms of the positive impact they can potentially have on productivity and living a meaningful life. Any thoughts on that?

When you say, that you most of the time interview ‘World Class People’ please clarify, What makes you the Judge of who is World Class and Who Is Not? There are many people who work hard every day, just to get out of bed and sort out the kids, the dog, the school uniforms, etc, maybe after they’ve only been in bed for a few hours after doing a night shift.
I know we all have a chance to improve our lives, even if its only by very small steps, but lets not forget the 5% who struggle to find the time to breathe, never mind philosophise ……

If you were an expert on something of potential interest to a well educated, reasonably sophisticated audience you were starting an information business right now, how would you do it, how would you find your market and how would you market it?

Tim, given your love of finding the right equipment to overcome life’s little challenges. I would love to hear your top recommendations on best travel pillows (similar to your recent post on Sleep Master Sleep Mask). I have tried so many, and still can’t find the right one. Hope you can hack this one. Cheers Dan

Honest feedback though, nowadays I feel myself trying to interpret if your work is product placement/sponsorship or the true genuine Tim Ferriss advice on ideas that work……Maybe I shouldn’t care and maybe I don’t, I just think it spoils the authenticity of you and your brand and is probably worth considering as you move forward…….I think your strength is how genuine you are – don’t lose that 😄

Hey Tim – thanks for this, a much needed reminder that routines are helpful. Hanging sounds like fun, will have to try! Easy question: do you wake up at the same time every day? When I’m not up when intended whole day goes berserk.

For meditation, I really like chopracentermeditation.com. I use the energy of attraction/grace/relationships bundle as a package discount and it’s much less expensive than TM. It seems to be similarly set up as well, Oprah & Deepak give a little schpeal for a few minutes, then give you a mantra for the next 15-20 minute meditation, but none of the guru thing. I love it! Also, growing up in a brit household, this tea thing is atrocious. 😉

Great episode, thanks for sharing your habits. I did the Headspace meditation today and it was a perfect way to ease into the day! These short form podcasts are a nice balance to your long form interviews.

The “Historical Atlas of World Mythology” series is crazy good, but there is some terrifying stuff in there (some of the fertility cult bits, can’t remember which volume, made me EXTREMELY happy to live in this era/location).

About the hanging, I really like Ido’s stuff but I’m concerned about the recommendations regarding passive hanging. This may be broscience, but I’d always heard that passive hangs put a lot of direct weight onto the shoulder ligaments, which was Potentially Bad. Most of the stuff on hanging seems to recommend the active hang with retracted shoulders and tightened abs/butt.

Meanwhile, Ido’s recommending up to 7 minutes a day of passive (for people *with* shoulder pain, no less), specifically to promote adaptation of that tissue in addition to realignment. I know he’s pretty results-based rather than theory, but I would like more information on this one. There’s a lot of TERRIBLE info out there one way or another about the adaptability of tendon/ligament health and it is hard to sort fact from potential fact from fiction.

I have quite similar Morning Routine and i have one extra advice and one question:

The extra advice is: for making your bed, buy a nice overbed day-blanket and some nice day-pillows. This really brought the fun into making my bed and it is like a Small ritual now and looks way cooler.
Also brought me some laughs from Girls because the day pillows have some cute Owls on it.
Not that manly but i love them.

The question is: when missing out on some of the morning routine steps Do you also have the feeling of getting chased by the steps during the day?

When i couldnt manage to meditate or to journal, i have the strong urge to fetch it later in the day, mostly in the Evening.

So there is kind of a reversed effect: this what should be only good, can cause some bad Conscience during The day if missed out on in The Morning.

The mind is already full and that is the problem. Meditation without a mantra can allow a person to sort out the thoughts, feelings and emotions that pull one from the present moment to the past or the future. What remains is a stillness that is goodness at its core and becomes a consciousness that is superior and beyond the thinking mind. From my experience that is.
Best

Tim – there’s another Tim you MUST have on the podcast. Tim Urban of Wait But Why. Best blog on the internet and right in line with what you’re interested in. I’d pay good money to hear the two of you have a conversation.

This is great. I had a cringe reaction to the use of the word ‘win’ though. ‘Win the morning’. ‘Win the day’. I’m not doing meditation to ‘win’ anything. Who wants to win a day? Its just a bizarre notion to me. Maybe it’s just a culture thing, I guess a lot of people go for the whole masculine dominate seize conquer destroy approach to living
🙂

I would like to know more about artists, how they connect to other artists in the same country and in other countries. Artists in Residence are for
proffesionals more or less. Is there any other ways to connect, meet and work together? Competition and “money talks” is boring. And so is artsnobbism if you know what i mean…

Secondly, any tips on Internet, computers etc for artists (painters). Is Apple the best brand for digital art? Laptop or iPad? Many questions 🙂
I am confused over the massive daily information. Instead of working, I watch Orange is the new black ;- ) But I love painting and I need some daily structure to get going. Thanks for good ideas! /Sweden

Nice Tim!!
I just realized I have been doing two of them for the past 2-3 years (bed+tea) I don’t really enjoy coffee so this is my recipe: Red Pu Her + Cinnamon + fresh Ginger + pure cocoa powder + coconut milk= Delicious!!

Quite difficult to meditate at 7:00 am while I try to get dress and leave home without waking up my kids (4year old boy + 1.5 year old girl) + wife in less than 5 minutes 🙂

So I will give a try with hanging , I used to hang with a “custom complex gravity system” on gym. I used the chin up bar and my feet ,don’t try this at home ;-))

I’ve listened to a lot of your podcasts and I love this one. It’s great hearing you go deep with your guests in interviews, but it’s equally fascinating and useful hearing you talk about yourself occasionally! It’s also nice to have a slightly shorter episode, just as another option, in case you have a spare 30 mins and don’t fancy starting to listen to one of the longer episodes. Thanks

Thank you for another great episode. My biggest takeway is to be more intentional in my morning routine. I love my mornings and usually am up early to get a few things done before my kids wake up. I have tried develop a routine organically but I think it is time to be very intentional.

i would compare meditation to this: mind is like a horse under you you pulling and pushing all the time, and in today world you mostly run; meditation is to let the “horse” walk by itself, eat the grass and feel the freedom from the rider…

A very good article. It is really necessary for us to start our morning right to be able to work the whole day. I just have to say and maybe add some advice. When you wake up in the morning we have to clear up the goals or plans for the whole day to be able to function well and don’t also forget a cup of tea!

This is a great help for us Tim who work long hours.I don’t do this kind of routine and I probably should give this a try. I usually have a tough day at work and whenever I wake up,it makes me think “Oh,I need to work again”.I think this would really help me to optimize my time at the office and maintain productivity all day long.

Not sure if you’ll see this (or more likely if one of your team will), but I don’t particularly like Twitter or Facebook so here you go. Anyway, just thought I’d offer you a bit of feedback on your frequently suggested correlation between meditation and success.

Let me preface it by saying I love what you do, I think meditation is a valuable exercise, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with discussing it. I do, however, think a test/data guy like yourself may benefit from stepping back and looking at what’s really happening. Meditation is very “vogue” these days, and while that certainly isn’t a bad thing I think its powers are often overstated. I say this as someone who likes to meditate and is interested in the practice.

Anyway, in this and other episodes you mention that “over 70%” of the people you interview say they practice meditation, therefore linking it to success. This is an erroneous conclusion for a number of reasons (I won’t even discuss correlation does not equal causation), which I’ll just list:

1) Over 70% of your guests (that you asked) have danced around saying someone comes to mind when you say the word “punchable.” Does this mean your guests are just pacifists? Or that they want to project a certain image to your many listeners? I’d wager the latter. Isn’t it likely the meditation question is the same?

2) Of the 70% that say they have at one time meditated, remarkably few of them say they keep up with it or have it as part of a daily routine. Many mention they should do it more often, or do not do it as often as they would like. In other words, meditation was a passing phase for many, and this seems to be the case for the majority of people who non-religiously practice it (see what I did there).

3) Over 70% of your guests are white males (presumably heterosexual and from the West). This likely is the primary reason behind their success and motivation for meditation. You could also ask questions like, did you have access to education? Did your parents encourage your development? Do you like reading? Have you been arrested? Do you like going to the movies? Do you like The Beatles? With any of these questions you’d end up with an answer that overwhelmingly swings one way, because people from the demographics you interview generally all have these things in common. Singling out meditation is a bit of a stretch.

There’s other reasons but for brevity’s sake I think those are sufficient. I say all this not to discount meditation or your assertion that it is important, but instead to encourage you as someone who has done such an excellent job of questioning and testing status quo’s to challenge your own assumptions.

Meditation I’ve focused on here but really this could apply to many things in the podcast. I love your podcast and your ideas, but I think perhaps many of your questions and their answers echoed across your participants have basically reinforced notions you and your listeners already held. Thus perhaps chances to learn are lost in mutual appeasement, and now 100 episodes in I feel like I hear a lot of the same things over and over (I’ve listened since episode #1). Perhaps it would be beneficial to have some people on the show who disagree about the benefits of meditation or other things you usually cultivate. Could be an interesting debate at least. For instance the episode with Glen Beck held some real interesting nuggets primarily just from being so different in many ways from most of your other guests.

Anyway, just one man’s thoughts. Perhaps I am in the minority of your listeners, and perhaps you won’t see this anyway. If you do though thanks for all that you do. I credit you with many of my favorite aspects of my current self. Hope you have a great day!

Hey Tim! So these are 5 rituals that help you engage the day. In my case I find it just as important, to be able to disengage the day, right?… Would you elaborate on your rituals/hacks/habits for doing so? Kind of your ‘sunset rituals’…
Thanks!

“If you see distraction externally, you end up creating an internally distracted state.” – Tim Ferriss

in my experience, it seems to be the other way round… If there is an internally distracted state inside, then distraction is seen externally, with more or less delay… The energies of confusion that are brewing inside, are radiating and showing up in the visible world.

I noticed a significant increase in my productivity and overall happiness when I started to wake up earlier and immediately begin completing small tasks (making the bed, eating a healthy breakfast, etc).

Great episode! For starters, I always wanted to say this: I love your theme music. Whoever made it did a great job! I am a Deep House/ Tropical House/ Electro music listener and a huge Daft Punk fan. Your theme music is right on target for me and for the kind of subjects you talk about here. Innovative and futuristic.

On another note, I once read that “you don’t dress up the way you feel, you feel the way you dress up.” It is true for me. Hanging out in baggy sweat pants is not my thing. If I’m casually dressed up after I make my bed, I feel more collected and productive.

You mentioned tv distracts you when you talk about something. I am the same way. I am easily distracted by so many things. Have you ever heard of something called HSP (Highly Sensitive Person)? I read a couple of books on HSPs. I don’t want to keep my post too long, so I just want to say if you’ve never heard of it, you may want to google it.

Here is a question: How do you cope with problematic people? How do you stop egoistic, miserable people get to you? I would like to hear what goes on in your mind when you are disappointed with people.

Thanks for sharing your start of the day. Regarding green tea I can recommand the green tea of the Boston Tea Campaign.
It’s very mild and has very high concentration of polyphenols. This way I drink a tasty and healthy tea.

I have a question.
I really want to meditate more and constitutionally.
Lets say you go out one night with friends have a few drinks then stay over at a place that is not yours.
What, should and how can you meditate in the morning at that persons place.

Greetings, Tim! Thank you for this podcast. I loved it! I’m definitely interested in hearing more like this. I’m working on getting my own morning rituals established and this gave me much to think about. Namaste.

You mentioned a great idea for a portable kettle bell in you podcast by using a dry bag and filling it with water. As someone who travels for work I think this is a great idea because hotel gyms usually don’t have them and the one handle I saw that can attach to dumbbells probably wouldn’t make it through TSA on a carryon bag. Can you tell me what dry bag you use and what do you use for a handle (the dry bags I’ve seen don’t seem like they would have a handle you can use or if it did it would be part of the clip holding the bag sealed and you run the risk of damaging it).

Just missed 100! 102 is ok!
Quickly, I am regular listener but find the length of the episodes and amount of info too much to process. This 30 min episode was perfect for my commute to work and left my hungry for more information which drove me to your site. Now I have clicked on several links, all good things for you my man. Thanks and please do more of these!

Thanks for all your inspiring research and experiments.
I’ve been really enjoing your podcast interviews.
There is a man by the name of Ryke Geerd Hamer who really blows the modern medical world on its head with his approach to disease.
Despite people making him look foolish, if you do some research I’m sure you will see some goodness.
Would love to hear you interview this bloke.
Thanks again all the way from the west coast of Australia.

Nice episode Tim, your passion for morning routines was what got me interested too. As a long time listener to your podcast I have heard most of this before, but sometimes a little reminder is good for us.

Tim – just catching up on your podcasts. Love this format of answering your own questions. I’ve been listening to more and more podcasts and find I gravitate toward the ones which are around :30 minutes. I’ve noticed my listenership of your podcast diminishing over the past couple of months, not because of the content, but the time needed. This podcast drew me right back in. Thanks for testing and experimenting with your formats. Hopefully we’ll get more of this quick hitting insights from you. Keep it rolling.

I just wanted to say thanks for this post. I was already a bed maker and tea drinker, but the other tips have helped get my mind straight before I start the day. I have always struggled with meditation, so I took your recommendation and started with the Calm app, which has made a tremendous difference in my success at beginning a regular practice. The links for the tea were so appreciated – I already had some interest in yerba mate, but was intimidated by the straw/gourd combo when my mornings are generally so busy. After doing a little research, I decided to go with the Cruz de Malta brand mate tea bags, which I brew with Tumeric Ginger Rishi tea, and it is absolutely delicious (sometimes I throw in some local/raw honey). I was an English Breakfast or Earl Grey drinker before, but didn’t love having to drink it twice (morning and afternoon) to battle against the sleepiness I always experience in the afternoon, and the caffeine spike and drop from coffee has always been too much for me. The mate is fantastic in both regards – no crazy caffeine spike, and no afternoon droop.

Not sure if this already is asked below, but didn’t see it mentioned. Can coffee be a suitable substitute for tea? If not, what is the difference that makes/breaks it. While I do enjoy an occasional green or Irish breakfast tea in afternoons just to chill I normally am not a fan of the leaf vs the bean…